888 granted Spanish live roulette licence
Gibraltar-headquartered operator approved to add live roulette to its Spanish-facing offering.
888 has been awarded a licence to operate a live roulette offering in Spain by the country’s regulatory authority the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ).
The Gibraltar-headquartered operator will now be permitted to launch live roulette on its Spanish-facing website in order to boost its market-leading casino offering.
Since the first dot.es poker licences were issued last June, casino, compared to poker, has been a relatively competitive vertical, with four operators claiming 70% of the market. 888 has found itself out in front followed by bwin, Gamesys’ Botemania bingo brand and bet365, according to recent figures from the Spanish regulator announced in November last year.
The majority of live roulette gaming in Spain is currently television-based, with domestic operators partnering with casino suppliers to set up studios to broadcast live casino games from within their properties.
In January Playtech announced it had signed an agreement with Casino Gran Madrid to stream live games including roulette from the floor of its casino, while last November saw live gaming supplier Evolution Gaming announce it is to design and launch a live roulette studio for Grupo Orenes’ land-based casino Rincón de Pepe in Murcia.
The Spanish online casino market remains limited in the absence of regulated slots games. The DGOJ is currently consulting with land-based slots operators over concerns the games would cannibalise revenues.
In online poker meanwhile, 888 has claimed the second-highest poker market share behind PokerStars. According to figures seen by eGR, these two operators account for 99% of market share.